I found a very cool series of interviews showcasing a large number of gaijin, or foreigners, who are fluent in Japanese. The Japanese television host asks the interviewee common questions, such as why they’re in Japan, their favorite Japanese food, and their favorite Japanese word. Some of the responses are pretty funny, and because it’s a 12-part video, there’s lots to see!

Some cool words I noted down and took away from the interviews include:

時は金なり (ときはかねなり）: “time is money”

ぼちぼち: “so-so; not bad”

苦肉の策（くにくのさく）: “last resort”

I encourage any Japanese learners to watch the videos and try to pick out some interesting words to keep for themselves as well. The great thing about Japanese television is that subtitles are commonplace, so it’s easy to look up words that are unfamiliar to you.

Furthermore, although not all the interviewees were amazing at Japanese, some really were great. I know I tend to be pretty competitive, so seeing some people who have gotten so good at Japanese motivates me to study harder and work my way towards fluency. Plus, I loved the fact that because the foreigners featured in the videos were so fluent, the hosts didn’t need to dumb down their language to interview them or dub over anyones voices as is common in other interviews.